04/10/2014

Update April 30: It's getting closer. My new blog is almost done and I will post here as soon as it is up. :)

I will be relaunching my blog in the next few weeks. You don't have to do anything, just go to www.paperpilekitten.com as usual and the new blog will appear as soon as it is ready. I will post here to let you know when.

The cool thing about my new blog is that it will be easy accessed from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. And that's great, because I have so many wonderful things to share with you! Projects, trends, tips and tutorials. I'm so excited and I just can't wait to get the doors open to my new wonderful place!

01/08/2014

We are now one week into January. I decided to take up Project Life again for 2014 but it's been 8 days and I really don't have one single photo with something substantial to show, and much less an exciting life to document. Eeek!

On the contrary, this January is probably going to be the most boring month in my life. All work. No play. I'm on a scrap budget. I'm on a food budget. I'm almost on a diet. I have a looong to do list of the most boring stuff that I hate to deal with (taxes, administrative tasks...) Bleh.

So, how will I document this month of infinite misery in my beautiful Project Life album? I have no idea, but I'm definitely going to find some comfort and inspiration on the True Scrap Pocket Page online event on January 25. If you would like to join me, and hundreds of other scrappers trying hard to keep up with everyday memory keeping, and get $99 off the registration fee with code 99DOWN, then sign up with this link no later than Monday January 13. Your special price will be only $50 for a full day event with 6 different online classes, one pre-party and unlimited replays so you can keep the inspiration all 2014 and for years to come. See you there! :)

01/01/2014

Happy New 2014! The page above is my December page for One Little Word 2013. As usual, I've added a couple of vellum 'booklets' for the journaling at the bottom of the page.

The time to say goodbye to my 2013 word Shine! So, I added this page to finish my album:

Here is my page for the final monthly challenge: 'Facts and feelings' about my word, as the year has come to an end.

I'm so very proud of the fact that I have followed through on the OLW project for an entire year! And I have loved my little word: Shine! I still love it, and I will keep it with me for the future. It feels so great to have an entire binder filled with beautiful pages related to my word, that I can return to at any time when I need a little encouragement to move forward and feel good about myself. The word Shine really did that for me.

Thank you so much for hopping along with me and my One Little Word in 2013! It has been an amazing journey! It's time to begin 2014. I'm still not entirely sure what my new word will be but I'm still leaning towards Focus. And the pure fact that I'm still undecisive goes to show that Focus is probably a very good word for me in 2014! LOL! LOL!

Update: I've finally decided on FOCUS for 2014. SHINE was such an encouraging and happy word, moving my feelings every time I thought of it. FOCUS is more of a quiet nudge to move onwards. I think that's what I will need this year. I'm going to continue to publish my OLW pages on my blog, so please check back every month for a new page. :)

12/01/2013

Above: My One Little Word page for November. I currently have a crush on birch trees and neutral light colors. In the last frame, my mini vellum journaling booklet is revealing a word that I am trying out for 2014.

Below: My photo display consist of a few areas where I have managed to, if not shine so at least, twinkle. I have started a business. I have studied. I have been crafting, not only paper crafting but also making the wedding bouquet to my little sister. I have made designs and I have shared online projects. I have spent time outdoors. I have taken care of my sick little cat (she's got bad kidneys and require daily care). I have celebrated my successes. And I have (soon) stuck with One Little Word for the entire year, which is fantastic for an easily side-tracked person like me.

Well, the side-tracking have to go next year. That's why I'm trying out words like Focus and Center. I'm going to decide on my One Little Word for 2014 when I see you again on January 1!

11/25/2013

Last year, I posted all the scrappy Black Friday offers I could find. I'm making one big Black Friday list this year! So, bookmark this post, because it will be shock full of great Black Friday offers on Friday. :D

Beginning with the most awesome offer you'll get this weekend, that is, if you like everyday memory keeping and pocket page scrapbooking:

They must have confused Black Friday with Black Monday? LOL! I love Webster's Pages warehouse sale boxes! I have bought every one of them. I think today's offer is their most amazing ever! The main box has a value of $200 for $25, and then there are two add-on boxes worth $175 each for only $15 each! That's not even 10% of the value! So, I would say that's a very good deal! Hurry and grab a box before they're gone!

For six (6) hours beginning at 12:00am Friday, November 29th, 2012 Pacific Standard Time (3:00am Eastern Standard Time), running through 6:00am Pacific Standard Time, save 25% on nearly every item currently in stock (sorry, this sale does not include Copic products and the Sizzix Big Shot, Big Shot Pro, Vagabond and eClips machines due to MAP pricing requirements). Upon checkout please enter the following one time use promo code to redeem your discount: early2013

This offer cannot be combined with any other coupon code. Please note that upon completion of your order the discounted price will be listed on each product line of your invoice.

Shop early for best selection - the early bird does get the worm!

Anniversary Savings!

If you are not an early bird, you can still enjoy savings of 15% on ALL in stock items from Friday, November 29th 12:00am through Monday, December 2nd, 2013, midnight Pacific Standard Time. At checkout please enter the following promo code:

anniv2013

This offer cannot be combined with any other coupon code and is valid on in stock merchandise only. Once again please note that upon completion of your order the discounted price will be listed on each product line of your invoice.

Cyber Monday Savings!

Didn't finish your shopping? You have one more chance to get great deals on remaining inventory while shopping in your pajamas! Enjoy savings of 20% on ALL remaining in stock items from Monday, December 2nd 12:00am running through 3:00pm Pacific Standard Time. At checkout please enter the following promo code: cyber2013

This offer cannot be combined with any other coupon code and is valid on in stock merchandise only. Once again please note that upon completion of your order the discounted price will be listed on each product line of your invoice.

"Once a year, we offer our retail customers an unheard of 30% off! Not just that, but it's off EVERYTHING in our store! AND, we are offering this saleFriday, (November 29) through Monday, (December 2).

11/01/2013

Here is my OLW pocket page for October. After some colorful months, it was wonderful to work with more neutral colors.

Below is the result of the monthly challenge: to get 'messy' with the One Little Word. I haven't had much time to play this month, so the 'messy' page in my art journal is quite simple. The background is made with some gesso and loose gold glitter. I used gold thickers to spell Shine! After I'd done that I had no idea what to do with the rest of the page and this led to an interesting creative process:

I started to play around with some asterisks and commas, only because there were plenty of them in the thicker pack and I thought 'How in the world am I going to use up that many commas? I've only used a comma in a page title once!'. LOL! I ended up making some kind of star map/trail and used some glitter stickers to spell 'Follow the Stars'.

The page did still not feel finished. Of course! It needed a rocket to travel along the starry way! At first I thought I should stamp a rocket but I didn't find one in the right size (despite having thousands of stamp images - goes to show that you can never have too many stamps, right?). So, I simply had to quickly doodle my own rocket. I attached it on the page with a couple of mini foam tabs.

At that point, I showed the page to my husband and asked if he thought that I should add anything coming out of the rocket, you know, to show the speed. It was his brilliant idea to let hearts come out from the back end of the rocket as, naturally, my journey to Shine is driven by: LOVE! That idea totally makes up for him not being able to answer my Shine interview questions last month. ;D

This month, all my time and energy have been spent to Shine. Do not miss my new project My Dream December. It's going to be super fun to share inspiration for the holiday projects, especially with my dear friends Isbaha, Melissa Shanhun and Monica Bradford who are contributing guest stars! And, I'm going to show some Christmas doodling in one of the videos. Doodling your own images is fun and not as difficult as many think.

Now, let's see what the other blog hop participants have been up to in October. Hop to Melanie's blog! :)

10/01/2013

Here's my One Little Word page for September, filled with the brilliant colors of fall: orange, yellow and shiny (!) gold. I made it from September's Scrap Stash Kit: Autumn Twist. The leaves haven't changed colors here in Stockholm yet, but I expect that the trees will be glowing any week now. Autumn is so pretty! I feel very fortunate to live in the far north were there is a sharp difference between the seasons. I love following the season cycle of the year!

Our assignment this month was to interview someone near and dear about our One Little Word. I tried to interview my husband but it turns out that he's not very talkative on this subject. Which is somewhat surprising as he talks non stop about everything and anything on a normal day. I think the questions might have been too hard for him to answer. I had to fill the page with pretty resin flowers instead of my handwriting. ;) It's probably for the best, as I just spotted a vocabulary error. LOL! Sometimes it shows that English is not my first language.

The important lesson I took from this was that I have to Shine more outwardly and toot my own horn. Because here I am, working so hard and nobody notices? It does not come natural for me to draw attention to my work and be out there selling my accomplishments, but I'm working on it. I have to be proud of what I do and let that shine through. That will be my mission for October.

09/23/2013

Yellow and orange with a dash of gold. It could be the color of fall leaves, but don't be fooled. Those colors could also be used for scrapping summer pics, so this kit is in fact a very versatile one. Read all about it here!

09/20/2013

This week, I am working on a brand new online class/event - My Dream December! It will run from October 1 to December 31 and help you sail through the Holiday season with a December planner and loads of inspiration for papercrafting, from Christmas cards and tags to a Dream December Journal. There will be printables, digital supplies, guests, prompts, challenges and more! I hope to see you there! :)

09/01/2013

Ali Edwards' challenge for August was to create our word somewhere and take a photo. Inspired by the current chalkboard trend, I doodled my word Shine on a Jenni Bowlin Studio mini chalkboard and kept it through the month as a visual reminder. (below)

For my OLW binder, I made another chalkboard inspired page (above), sprinkled with strong happy colors to contrast against the black and white. I used the Summer Nights Scrap Stash Kit.

This is the time of back to school/work/gym/everyday routines and, to me, it almost feels like New Year's. It's like a second chance to fulfill your 2013 resolutions. That's why this page got a very 'planner' and 'back to school' like style/theme. To me, planning and organizing are quite exciting activities, so I love it! LOL!

Next stop in the hop is Veronica! Happy hopping! I hope that we inspire you to chose your own Little Word. Shine on! :)

08/29/2013

I was going to skip the August kit. It's a summer month, vacation time, I was super busy with a sick little housecat and other things. But when August was ending, I felt a strong need for a kit and put this together. Firstly, because I can't wait to dive into the new big chalkboard trend. Secondly, because this is the time of the year when we start big plans and go back to school/gym/work and there's a need for some pages connected to those activities.

So, may I present: Summer Nights from the Scrap Stash Kit club. No shopping. No shipping. Just get inspired by my kit and then use what you already have in your stash.

08/01/2013

Time is flying! Summer's almost going towards its end. I have been working incredibly hard this summer, both on taking care of my health with daily walks (I've even began a little bit of running - it's so much fun!) and healthy diet choices (well, most of the time) and on setting up a new business.

Our assignment for July was to stick small stickers or post-it notes with our One Little Word, so we would have it before our eyes daily, as a reminder. I plastered those stickers all over the place, but I only chose one of them for this month's layout: the one on my computer screen, because it feels like I've spent most of my July time right there. LOL!

That's not entirely true, because I have had some lovely days off in the sun, in the company of my entire family. The youngest in our family, my sister, got married a couple of weeks ago, so everyone gathered in one place for a few days - parents, siblings, cousins, uncles... It was truly wonderful to meet them all! But for the most of my summer time, I have been a hard working woman.

07/15/2013

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop, inspiring you to get out your christmas stash and use it before all the new collections are introduced this month. Join the fun and create something too. If you'd like to share your work, use the hashtag #scrapbookchristmas on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

I have a ton of Christmas scrapbooking joy for you in this post, so you want to bookmark this page and come back to watch all the videos, check out all of the links and enjoy all the other things in here. There is also a giveaway at the end of the page. And a drink recipe!

Here's a list of the contents in this blog post:

1. Scrap Stash Kit for Christmas in July: Santa on the Beach - with video.

7. Giveaway entry for those who want to play along with the 'stash kit'.

8. Entire Christmas in July blog hop list.

Whew! That should keep you busy for the rest of July, so please come back and enjoy this post a little bit at a time. :)

1. Scrap Stash Kit for Christmas in July: Santa on the Beach - with video.

The Scrap Stash Kit Club is a free monthly kit club with no requirements for shopping (or shipping), you only use what you already have. Read more here and sign up to join the club and receive monthly inspiration images and video links.

Every month, I will pull a kit from my own stash and show you how to use older supplies to make your projects look on trend, to inspire you to do the same and to create with what you have. We are already more than 500 members in the kit club and you are very much welcome to join us!

The July kit above is called Santa on the Beach (yes, it's kind of named after that drink, you know ;) and here's the kit video showing you my stash kit:

2. Christmas layout made with traditional Christmas supplies.

Let's start with the easiest one: Making a Christmas page with Christmas supplies. This is a page about the Christmas market fair at the Royal Mews (that's the King's Stables) here in Stockholm.

The layout and design is very traditional Christmas looking, with the burlap background (Glitz Designs) and the vintage Santa and snowman images (Reminisce). Wood veneer pieces from Studio Calico, painted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. Title letters from Dear Lizzy (American Crafts) and October Afternoon.

A great tip to cram in as many photos at possible on a page (I wouldn't want to fill an entire album with the memory of a single day at the Christmas market fair. lol! One page like this is quite enough.) is to make collages of your photos in a smartphone app and then print the collage. You can cut it up in tiny photos or as photo strips.

3. Summer layout made with traditional Christmas supplies.

Having more Christmas themed papers than I could ever use, even if I'd live until I get 150 years old or so, calls for unusual measures! Here, I have been experimenting with using my Christmas stash to make a summer page from June, when my husband and I was hiking at a nearby national park trail (hence the funny title, hahah ;).

It turned out that the red Christmas color went excellently along with the greens and blues of summer nature photos! I used a paper from Basic Grey's Aspen Frost as a background. Paper pieces from Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride and Studio Calico's Wonderland. Big embellished butterflies and journal label from Jenni Bowlin. Title letters from Dear Lizzy (American Crafts) and October Afternoon. Washi tape and punched butterflies (se tip below).

Tip for the thrifty scrapper: Get an inexpensive small butterfly punch, grab a cheap scrap of cardstock or patterned paper from your stash. Punch away and sprinkle those little butterflies all over you page. Adhere with a tiny dot of Glossy accents below the butterfly's belly and then bend up the wings slightly. Super cute embellishment that will add a little dimension to your page without getting bulky. Cost: next to nothing!

You can watch my process for this page here:

4. Christmas layout made with non-Christmas themed supplies.

Here's a page using the latest and greatest trend: Chalkboard! The background paper is from Glitz Designs (Color Me Happy) and then I used wood veneer hearts from Studio Calico. I also punched some small hearts from American Crafts glitter tape. Number border and title letters from Pink Paislee.

Here's a process video for this page. It's a little wonky in the lighting, because I had to constantly adjust for the disappearing daylight yesterday evening. I can't tell you how relieved I am that hubby ordered some photo lights for me last week. Can't wait to get more stable light conditions with lamps! On top of that, the sound card in our Mini Mac acted up at the very end of the video so my finishing up the video is a little bit abrupt. But hey, I wanted to show you anyway, and this is keeping it real. Making YouTube videos isn't always a cakewalk. :D

5. Where to find all the NEW Christmas collections!

Well, now that we have been good and used up some our Christmas stash - where's the new collections to be found? In a week, it's time for CHA Summer trade show, where all the brands and manufacturers are releasing the upcoming lines and designs. All the news are on display here!Welcome to log in (it's free!) and use the CHA sneak peek manager where you can check and rate the collections you are interested in, and then add a private note to plan your purchases for this season.

6. Santa on the Beach - drink recipe!

I couldn't resist to invent a drink called Santa on the Beach, just to celebrate Christmas in July! Here's the ingredients (the alcoholic ones are of course optional):

3/5 White rum

1/5 Applejack or Calvados

1/5 Coconut milk

One egg white

One small dash of red grenadine

Shake with loads of North Pole ice. Decorate with a sprig of fresh mint, a drink umbrella, a candy cane and a red and white paper straw. Enjoy!

7. Giveaway for those who want to play along with the Santa on the Beach 'stash kit'.

Then you will be entered to win a pack of Swedish scrapbook products (see the image above)! The prize pack consist of one wood mounted rubber stamp, 9 4x6 cards cut from Swedish design papers (Maja Design, Pion Design and Inkido). One roll of washi tape from YouDo. Brads from Panduro and paper clips from world reknown Swedish office supplier Ordning & Reda (photographer Annie Leibovitz is said to once have ordered one of their gorgeous notebooks with a regular flight from Stockholm to New York, just because she won't use anything else).

A winner will be randomly drawn on Monday, August 5. So you have 3 whole weeks to create. Entries from all the world are welcome!

8. Entire Christmas in July blog hop list.

Next on the hop is Taniesa. Thank you so much for visiting my blog, and have a very merry Christmas in July hop! :)

In case you get lost at any point, here is the list of all the participating blogs. They are quite a few, so be sure to bookmark this page so you can come back later and visit all of them!

07/01/2013

This is my monthly OLW page that I made from the Scrap Stash kit Something Blue. Papers from Studio Calico, American Crafts (Dear Lizzy), Fancy Pants Designs and October Afternoon. Decorations and letter stickers from Studio Calico, Doodlebug Design and October Afternoon.

Our challenge for June was a mid-year reflection on our word (below), where I used Ali Edwards' stamp set Fun Flair to decorate the page. The thing that has surprised me the most about my word Shine, and the OLW process, is how hard I can work towards my goals. I had no idea that this permanently procrastinating girl had that much hard work and consistency in her. lol!

One of my biggest challenges has been that very consistency. It's tough to keep the focus at all times and I am impressed with myself that I've managed to walk a fairly straight line. I'm easily sidetracked so it's a struggle to not wander off the trail to explore momentarily interesting things that happen to come in my way.

Time management is another huge challenge for me. I can be such an optimist and think that I could do a week's work in just one day. Easy peasy, right? Ummm... not exactly. :/

I am very much looking forward to the next 6 months of this journey, that will likely define a good deal of my future, at least career wise. It feels kind of exciting, to not know exactly what lies before me, to have some control over my own destiny but, on the other hand, no control at all. I hope it will turn out to be something good! :)

Thank you for looking! Next up is the wonderful Cheri! Have a wonderful hop! :)

06/10/2013

Today it happened! Lain released all the classes from the fabulous True Stamp event à la carte (individually) and she's giving us a great price for a limited time. Each class is now only $7 (orginal price $12.95) and I can assure you that they are worth it. I was there, you see, at the original True Stamp event. And oh, what fun we had. Now it's your turn to join the fun. :)

Each class includes:

Project video (30-40 minutes long)

Hour-long "like you were there" video (including Q&A and chat)

Supply list

Project photos

Here are the six different classes with instructors from leading stamp companies, that you can choose from:

Really fun and inspiring class! Canvas is a perfect medium for using your stamps in new and creative ways. You can add texture to any project, from cards to home decor. Join Angela Magnuson as she demonstrates the ins and outs of stamping on this versatile fabric.

One of my favorites! If you love projects that POP with that extra bit of WOW factor, this is the class for you! Int his fast-paced intermediate-to-advanced technique workshop, you’ll learn how to do resist techniques, dry and heat embossing, chalkboard techniques, and more. You’ll also pick up lots of practical stamping and paper crafting tips that you’ll use over and over again on your scrapbook pages, cards, and home decor projects.

This was another one of my favorite classes from the event. Kim Hughes demonstrates how easy and effective it can be to use white ink on your stamping projects. From stamping to blending, she’ll show the many uses of this versatile product.

Do not miss the brayer techniques in this class! I was totally blown away with the effects! Raisin Boat give you creative ideas for using stamps to make your scrapbook pages look tailor-made for your photos, plus how to easily adapt scrapbook pages to cards for added creative mileage! You’ll also learn how to achieve unique artistic effects, from sophisticated to playful, with ink refills, brushes, brayers and more.

06/04/2013

I'm excited to share the June sneak peek of the Scrap Stash kit: Something Blue. Blues and greens make such a great color combination and I can't wait to use these products from my stash for layouts and cards. I hope that you will join me and play along. :)

06/01/2013

Welcome to the June blog hop for One Little Word! As usual, I begin my blog post with the OLW page for the last month, May, made with the Rewind kit from Scrap Stash Kit Club that requires nothing but using what you already have in your own paper crafting stash at home. :)

The OLW challenge for May was to choose phrases that we tell ourselves and quotes that reflect our goals, and make a page from those. These are the ones that I chose:

I also decided to add a summer bucket list to my OLW album, it was part of a National Scrapbook Day at Big Picture Classes. Ali Edwards issued a challenge to use arrows as a part of journaling. I thought that it would be perfect to use arrows as "bullet points" for my summer bucket list. I included some inspiring photos from previous summers on the page.

Thank you so much for looking and for visiting my blog! Now, hop along to the next blog. That is the lovely Missus Wookie!

Make sure to visit all of these talented ladies' blogs for more One Little Word pages! Here's the entire blog hop list:

05/25/2013

I am a strong believer in routines for getting things done. That's why I started the Scrap Stash Organization Club at New Year's, sending out daily craft space organization prompts on weekdays. Well, yesterday was the final day of our first cycle, and I have to confess that there are still a lot more to sort and organize in my own craft space.

But here comes summer with a load of wonderful and distracting activities. Gardening, vacations, house guests, grill parties... oh, the joys of the sunny season! And just think of the opportunities to collect treasured family memories to scrap when winter comes. Woohooo! Make room in the pool, here I come! :)

We still want our craft spaces to look tidy through the summer, and we want our photos and memories to be kept safe, so on Monday we will begin the 'Quick Cycle' of Scrap Stash Organization that will run through June and July, until the beginning of August.